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I have a balcony fence between my balcony and the adjacent one. I'm on the first floor and my garage is directly below me. I would like to fasten the vertical square bar of the fence (cast iron) to a pulley that hangs a rope of out over the balcony so I can hoist items from storage up or down whenever I want. I also want to do it on the cheap if at all possible. Does anyone have any ideas aside from attaching an extension to the metal piping to create a triangle overhang. That seems far too expensive for the circumstances. It is mainly light items I'll be ferrying up and down. Taking things around the block to reach my garage is very annoying and any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.enter image description here

Jonathan H
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  • As long as it light weight, could probably drill a hole in it and attach an eye bolt to it. For safety limit the weight(50 or 75 pounds). – crip659 Aug 17 '21 at 23:06
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    How heavy are the things you want to hoist? – ThreePhaseEel Aug 18 '21 at 01:07
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    Do you own the unit or are you renting? Better to just use a nifty dolly and walk down to get things. Any pulley system that would be safe and convenient would be expensive. – Jim Stewart Aug 18 '21 at 02:57
  • Define "cheap". Are you willing to spend $20? $200? How high is the top of the railing from the ground? Why do you need a pulley, that is, why can't you just drop a rope and pull stuff up? Is the stuff too heavy? Do you plan to use a block and tackle? How heavy? How large? What is the biggest or heaviest thing you will lift? Do other people have access to the ground below your balcony? Do you have full control over who walks there? – jay613 Aug 18 '21 at 10:59
  • Those white vertical things are what you want to attach a line to in order to hoist stuff? Frankly, they look like a Venitian blind turned sideways. If it's anything more significant than a box of tissues, it looks like they'll bend right over. Heck, looks like they'll bend under the weight of a rope & pulley. How about the _much_ more substantial looking dark grey railing on the right side of the pic? At a minimum, a 2nd pic with a tape measure for some dimensions would be helpful. – FreeMan Aug 18 '21 at 14:11
  • @FreeMan look behind the twiggy stuff. There's another bit of railing, even darker, and square section – Chris H Sep 17 '21 at 16:48

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if the items are very light, just hoist them by hand.

Else make a pole that hooks onto the horozontal top of the barrier fence and has the pulley on the end

Pulley on the font end, downward facing hook in the middle and and an upward facing hook at the back end. a twine or bungee cord to hold it in place while unloaded

Jasen
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Personally I'd make a braced frame out of wood (vertical, horizontal, and diagonal members). This would go against the railings, and need clamping at the top and bottom. Then I'd attach a cheap block and tackle at the far end - no need for anything expensive, though upgrading the cheap ones to braided rope instead of twisted is a big help. Wooden, I probably wouldn't leave it out year-round in my wet climate, even treated.

Don't rely on woodscrews, but bolt through and out the other side for all joints, and size the timbers up beyond what you think you need.

I haven't given dimensions as I don't know what you'll be lifting or how you're attaching it. For comparison I use something similar to this into my loft (attic) to shift a tent that fills that hatch and is too heavy for an overhead lift while on a ladder. The block and tackle is rated to 180kg (400lbs). I've tested it with my own weight (less than half that), and the tent is less than half my weight, so it's overrated by a factor of 5. I only needed to use 2x2" timber for a short span above the hatch. It's also very useful for smaller items combined with a sturdy bag, but I still don't stand underneath the load

Chris H
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